


Echelon

by purrplekat1989



Category: 30 Seconds to Mars
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-22
Updated: 2013-11-13
Packaged: 2017-12-24 07:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/937005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purrplekat1989/pseuds/purrplekat1989
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jared dies tragically, everyone is crushed. Friends, family, and fans mourn. But just a few weeks after the announcement comes out on TMZ, fans are already hard at work making a tribute to their fearless leader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The announcement

> Jared Leto -- actor and charismatic front-man for the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars -- died early Sunday morning at the age of 41.
> 
> Doctors reported that the cause of death was stress related heart failure.
> 
> Leto was attending the worldwide online premiere of the award winning documentary "Artifact" which details the lawsuit between the record label EMI and the band 30 Seconds to Mars.
> 
> He was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center after he collapsed during a special performance during the final showing of Artifact, Saturday.
> 
> A spokesperson gave the statement that Jared had been "excited for the VyRT premiere." 
> 
> Jared was well known for such movies as Requiem for a Dream, Mr. Nobody, and Lord of War, as well as for his band breaking the world record for the longest tour to date.
> 
> Leto is survived by his mother Constance, and older brother Shannon. Neither of whom could be reached for comment.

Shannon crushed the newspaper into a ball throwing it against the wall, as if somehow that would make the whole world go away. As if that would somehow make this entire fucking disaster just disappear. Some horrible dream that he couldn't seem to wake up from. Stress related heart failure sounded so insipid, the term the doctors had given them was "Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy" which was really just a fancy way of saying a heart attack brought on by constant stress. Everyone always said Jared worked too much, tried to do too much. Relax Jared, take a breath Jared, sit back you'll work yourself to death Jared. _Good job little brother, you really did work yourself to death this time._

"What am i going to do without you Jay?"


	2. First Spoken

_These aren't issues that are just going to resolve themselves with time. How do you even bounce back from something like that?_

Shannon never was self destructive normally. But normally he had to be the grounding wire to Jared's lightning rod. As it was, he felt as if he had become the rod himself, and the storm was looming on the horizon, a boiling mass of clouds and emotion in the back of his mind.

Two weeks after the funeral, and it still didn't feel real. He sat at the drum kit day after day with his headphones on, practicing for the next Mars show that he knew would never come. There wasn't any Thirty Seconds to Mars without Jared.

Two weeks, and Shannon had kept radio silence with the world. Often locking himself in the lab for hours at a time, seemingly unaware of anyone around him as he pounded away at the drums.

Everyone else had gone home by now, but Constance had stayed. Fearing that she was losing the only child she had left as she watched him withdraw from the world. Withdraw into himself. He barely slept, ate only when pushed to do so... it was a mothers worst nightmare.

"It's all wrong." They were the first words that Shannon had spoken in days, favoring instead for nods or quiet noises to acknowledge that he'd heard someone talking to him. 

The sound caused Constance to look up at him, mild shock written across her eyes. "I know, baby." she said, crossing the room and squatting beside his seat at the drums, gently brushing a few strands of hair out of his face. "But he wouldn't have wanted you to dwell either."

He looked at her, his face a mask of badly repressed pain. "How can I not mama? I feel like I've lost... like half of myself has died. I don't know how to-" he choked the sentence off, grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes. Tears were finally starting to come as the wall started to crumble. 

Constance stood, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, smoothing his hair in a way that only a mother can as he clung to her and cried. She hated seeing him in pain, but the fact that he was starting to show it was a step in the right direction. The first baby step down a very long road that neither of them was sure where it would lead. "I know baby... I know..."


	3. The Book

Shannon had always been economical with his words. Laconic was the word. But since the funeral he barely spoke to anyone, and even then it was usually only in response to being asked a direct question.

So it was a great surprise several weeks later when a new video went up on the Mars youtube channel unannounced.

"We've all lost so much. My family, the band, the Echelon..." he looked weary, in a way that only someone who has lost everything can look. The words were soft, punctuated with a sigh. "I recieved something in the mail that I wanted to share with the world."

In his hands he held a thick leatherbound book. "I've spent several days looking at this. It's filled with pictures and stories. Concert photos, art, comics... you name it, it's in here. More than a thousand people contributed to this." he gave a soft laugh. "I counted. Every one of them expressing their griefs, their pain, and their hopes. Stories about ways that Jared touched their lives and changed things for the better. How he inspired them to make a difference in their own lives."

The camera cut to show some of the pages as he flipped through them. Sketches, handwritten notes, little handmade trinkets on ribbons dotting the pages like bookmarks. His hand shook as he continued to turn the pages, reading various names from all over the world. Entries in languages from every corner of the globe. Lipstick marks, and tear stains. A tiny vial of grey sand from the coast of Ireland, a long thin spine from a plant that only grew in the Amazon rainforest, one page that was simply covered in blue glitter and nothing else. hundreds of photos of Echelon, of tattoos, of the sky and earth, of things both profound and mundane.

"There's no pain greater than losing a loved one." Shannon said when the video cut back to his face again. "I want to thank everyone. You've all changed my life in ways I can't even express. Be good." and the screen faded to black, Witness playing quietly over the end.

> _Away I go_  
>  _Away I go_  
>  _Away_  
>  _I am a ghost..._  
> 

Shannon moved through the house, cleaning up as he went. Feeling a sense of purpose for the first time in weeks. He knew what needed to be done. He was exhausted, but soon it would be better...

He set the coffee pot to go off at 9am just like he always did, grabbing a beer, and turning lights off as he made his way toward his room. Grabbing a small bottle from the bedside table, he downed the contents with his drink. It was nearly midnight when his eyes finally closed, drifting off into the black oblivion of sleep.

Never to wake again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought! Comments are loved.


End file.
